Recipes

Spinach Caprese Quesadilla

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While at work yesterday, my mind kept drifting to dinner–but nothing was sounding good to me.  Since I have an abundance of tomatoes and basil (thank you backyard garden for your fruitfulness 🙂 ) I decided to do something caprese inspired. 

Caprese is one of my all-time favorite Italian dishes, and it typically consists of tomato, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil.

Before diving into to the caprese, I got to work on some brussel sprouts.  I halved 10 brussel sprouts, trimmed down any rough ends of the stem, and then made a small slit down the core of each sprout half.  I read that making this little slit on the rougher part of the sprout helps to ensure even cooking.  I put the sprouts on a cookie sheet that was liberally sprayed with cooking spray, then seasoned them with S&P, and gave them a good toss before throwing them into a 415 degree oven for 17 minutes.

Brussel sprouts!

Now onto the caprese!  First, I sliced up 1 roma tomato and 1 Sargento light mozzarella string cheese and put them into a bowl:

Then, I drizzled the tomato and mozzarella with 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar and a 1/2 tsp olive oil and sprinkled with some salt and pepper.  Next I added 3 sliced up fresh basil leaves and tossed everything to coat.

Meanwhile, I topped a Mama Lupe’s Low Carb tortilla with some fresh spinach and topped with the tomato mozzarella mixture:

I topped this off with a second Mama Lupe’s low carb tortilla, then I popped this baby onto the George foreman grill for about 5 minutes (until the tortilla was crisp and the cheese was melty):

None of these pictures do the quesadilla justice!  If you like caprese, you will love this:

I’m hoping I get some tips on taking pictures of food indoors at the Healthy Living Summit!  I can never seem to get indoor pictures quite right!

By the way, if you love caprese too check out the recipe I tried for hot caprese! I also added a “rating” scale to my recipe page :mrgreen:

Stats on dinner:  325 calories, 43g carbs, 12g fat, 20g protein, 14g fiber

 

A few hours after dinner, it was time for my night time snack.  I was craving a green monster smoothie, so I put the following into the blender:

  • 1/4 cup Stonyfield Farms Fat Free Yogurt
  • 1/2 cup Almond Breeze unsweetened vanilla almond milk
  • 2 cups spinach
  • 1/2 cup fresh frozen strawberries
  • 1/2 cup fresh frozen blueberries
  • 1 packet Truvia
  • 1 ice cube

Green Monster:

This guy was so much GREENER in person than in these photos… my camera was being stubborn last night!

Stats on the green monster:  119 calories, 24g carbs, 2g fat, 8g protein, 6g fiber

 

Question:  what’s your favorite “healthified” Italian dish?

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What I ate

Saturday eggs, smoothies, & tuna salad

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This morning I woke up bright and early to try and pick up on my interval running (even though I had already decided to take a week off of high-impact excercise)…  I was able to get 1.5 intervals in before my knee started hurting 🙁  Looks like I’m going to be in the walking group at the Healthy Living Summit.

 

Breakfast of champions

After my disappointing run, I wanted a delicious breakfast to perk me up.  I cooked up 1 egg sunny side up, and had a piece of Country Hearth 12 Grain bread with sunflowers and a half a cup of oven baked potatoes:

Why are egg yolks SOOOO delicious tasting?  I find them oddly decadent!

Stats: 250 calories, 37g carbs, 7g fat, 12g protein, 2g fiber

Soon after downing this delicious breakfast, I was already feeling hungry and decided to make a fruit smoothie. 

I threw the following into the blender:

  • 1 container Yoplait Strawberry Greek Yogurt
  • 1/2 cup Almond Breeze unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
  • 1/4 cup fresh blueberries
  • 6 medium strawberries
  • 1 cup fresh spinach
  • 1/2 cup ice

This puppy definitely filled my belly up!

Stats on my smoothie: 199 calories, 32g carbs, 2g fat, 14g protein, 4g fiber

After watching me down my smoothie, Jarrod got jealous and decided he wanted a smoothie too.  So we threw the following into the blender:

  • 1 scoop optimum nutrition whey chocolate protein
  • 1/2 cup frozen sliced bananas
  • 1 tbsp JIF peanut butter
  • 1/4 cup ground-up quick oats
  • 1/2 cup Almond Breeze unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
  • 1/2 cup ice

This doesn’t look like much, but I tried a sip and it was AMAZING: 

Tasted like a shake you’d get at a hamburger stand.  I’m going to try and make a lower-calorie version sometime!

Stats on Jarrod’s chocolate peanut butter banana smoothie: 377 calories, 39g carbs, 12g fat, 33g protein, 6g fiber

  

Lunch

A little before lunch, I headed over to my mom’s house for some quality time with the fam.  Just as I was about to leave, I locked my keys in my trunk…  😯 What am I, 16 again?  When I was younger, I had the joy of consistently locking my keys in my car.  Actually, the day I first got my license I locked my keys in my trunk and had to have my dad come rescue me…. Oh joy….

Once I got the key situation all worked out, I headed home to make a tuna wrap for lunch.  Here’s what went into the tuna salad:

  • 1 can chunk light tuna in water, drained
  • 1/4 cup red onion
  • 1/2 a chopped roma tomato
  • 1 tbsp Ken’s Steakhouse Lite Creamy Ceaser Dressing
  • S&P

Then I added a few slices of a ginormous banana pepper I grew in my backyard garden:

I put the tuna salad atop a Light Flat-out Italian wrap with 1 cup of spinach:

Then I wrapped everything up burrito-style and grilled on the george foreman grill for about 5 minutes:

DELICIOUS.

Stats on the tuna wrap:  282 calories, 28g carbs, 9g fat, 32g protein, 12g fiber

 

I’m hoping to try out a new recipe for dinner tonight.. I have a few ideas in mind.  Maybe a nap will help things come to fruition 🙂

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What I ate

Saturday eggs, smoothies, & tuna salad

2 Comments

This morning I woke up bright and early to try and pick up on my interval running (even though I had already decided to take a week off of high-impact excercise)…  I was able to get 1.5 intervals in before my knee started hurting 🙁  Looks like I’m going to be in the walking group at the Healthy Living Summit.

 

Breakfast of champions

After my disappointing run, I wanted a delicious breakfast to perk me up.  I cooked up 1 egg sunny side up, and had a piece of Country Hearth 12 Grain bread with sunflowers and a half a cup of oven baked potatoes:

Why are egg yolks SOOOO delicious tasting?  I find them oddly decadent!

Stats: 250 calories, 37g carbs, 7g fat, 12g protein, 2g fiber

Soon after downing this delicious breakfast, I was already feeling hungry and decided to make a fruit smoothie. 

I threw the following into the blender:

  • 1 container Yoplait Strawberry Greek Yogurt
  • 1/2 cup Almond Breeze unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
  • 1/4 cup fresh blueberries
  • 6 medium strawberries
  • 1 cup fresh spinach
  • 1/2 cup ice

This puppy definitely filled my belly up!

Stats on my smoothie: 199 calories, 32g carbs, 2g fat, 14g protein, 4g fiber

After watching me down my smoothie, Jarrod got jealous and decided he wanted a smoothie too.  So we threw the following into the blender:

  • 1 scoop optimum nutrition whey chocolate protein
  • 1/2 cup frozen sliced bananas
  • 1 tbsp JIF peanut butter
  • 1/4 cup ground-up quick oats
  • 1/2 cup Almond Breeze unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
  • 1/2 cup ice

This doesn’t look like much, but I tried a sip and it was AMAZING: 

Tasted like a shake you’d get at a hamburger stand.  I’m going to try and make a lower-calorie version sometime!

Stats on Jarrod’s chocolate peanut butter banana smoothie: 377 calories, 39g carbs, 12g fat, 33g protein, 6g fiber

  

Lunch

A little before lunch, I headed over to my mom’s house for some quality time with the fam.  Just as I was about to leave, I locked my keys in my trunk…  😯 What am I, 16 again?  When I was younger, I had the joy of consistently locking my keys in my car.  Actually, the day I first got my license I locked my keys in my trunk and had to have my dad come rescue me…. Oh joy….

Once I got the key situation all worked out, I headed home to make a tuna wrap for lunch.  Here’s what went into the tuna salad:

  • 1 can chunk light tuna in water, drained
  • 1/4 cup red onion
  • 1/2 a chopped roma tomato
  • 1 tbsp Ken’s Steakhouse Lite Creamy Ceaser Dressing
  • S&P

Then I added a few slices of a ginormous banana pepper I grew in my backyard garden:

I put the tuna salad atop a Light Flat-out Italian wrap with 1 cup of spinach:

Then I wrapped everything up burrito-style and grilled on the george foreman grill for about 5 minutes:

DELICIOUS.

Stats on the tuna wrap:  282 calories, 28g carbs, 9g fat, 32g protein, 12g fiber

 

I’m hoping to try out a new recipe for dinner tonight.. I have a few ideas in mind.  Maybe a nap will help things come to fruition 🙂

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Recipes, What I ate

A Truly Green Monster

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Maybe it was all the green grass around me, but all I could think about while mowing the lawn this afternoon was making a giant green monster!

Into the blender: 

  • 10 small fresh strawberries
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened almond breeze vanilla almond milk
  • 2 packets Truvia
  • 2 cups spinach
  • ICE
  • 1 tbsp oikos plain yogurt (would have used more, but that’s all that was left in the container)

 Gave it a thorough immulsification:

 That is a seriously green monster smoothie: 

 Stats on the GM:  64 calories, 15g carbs, 2g fat, 4g protein, 3g fiber

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Recipes, What I ate

Pita Pizza & a Green Monster

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Some nights I am really amped to try out a new recipe…. And some nights, I just want pizza.  Tonight was one of THOSE nights. 

I decided to use a Joseph’s Middle East Bakery Low Carb pita as my base.  I topped that off with:

  • 1/4 cup Classico Fire Roasted/Tomato Garlic spaghetti sauce
  • Sprinkling of garlic powder, onion powder, dried parsley, dried oregano, black pepper, and red pepper flakes
  • 1 ounce thinly sliced grilled chicken (leftover from the batch I grilled up sunday night)
  • 1 light babybel cheese sliced into four super thin discs
  • 1 tbsp fat free ricotta
  • thinly sliced red onion
  • a couple thinly sliced cherry tomatoes

Popped it into a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes.  Then, I topped it with some chopped basil from the back yard garden:

I served the pizza up with a side salad that consisted of romaine, cherry tomatoes, red onion, banana peppers, and 2 tbsp Ken’s Steakhouse Lite Northern Italian dressing with Basil and Romano:

The salad was delicious.  That Ken sure does know a thing or two about dressings 😉

And the pizza was..  in a word… Umm…. YUM.  Ok, that’s two words, but regardless this pizza really hit the spot:

Soooo goood!!!  Why don’t I make pizza more often?!

Check out this huge banana pepper I’ve got growing in the back yard:

He might have to go on my next salad 🙂

Stats on the pizza: 197 calories, 20g carbs, 6g fat, 20g protein, 5g fiber 

Stats on the salad:  97 calories, 13g carbs, 5g fat, 3g protein, 4g fiber

All together now:  294 calories, 33g carbs, 11g fat, 23g protein, 9g fiber

 

I’ve previously eluded to the fact that I’m a messy cook.  Given the simplicity of my dinner tonight, you’d probably assume that my kitchen would be in pretty good shape.  Whelp, you’d be wrong! 

Take a look at this monstrosity:

I wish I were kidding.  Can you imagine the disasters I could create if I had a big kitchen?

After dinner, I couldn’t wait for late-night snack time to roll around.  I decided earlier in the day that I’d make up a green monster smoothie for my snack to give me lots of energy for my run in the morning.

Threw the following into the blender:

  • 1/2 cup Almond Breeze Unsweetened Almond Milk
  • 1/4 cup Oikos plain Greek Yogurt
  • 1 packet Truvia (stevia) all natural sweetener
  • 1/2 cup fresh frozen strawberries
  • 1/4 cup fresh blueberries
  • 1 cup fresh SPINACH
  • 3 ice cubes

It’s green.  It’s delicious.

Mmmmm…

Thankfully, the green monster gave me the energy I needed to clean up that disaster kitchen:

Stats on the green monster: 105 calories, 18g carbs, 2g fat, 9g protein, 5g fiber 

Blog Updates

I recently updated my About Me page to incorporate some comments I had posted on the blog.  I also added a Foodie Q&A page where I plan to keep a running list of questions readers ask.  And as always, I am continuously linking all my recipe posts to the Recipe Page.  This page is actually getting pretty long, so I think I’ll be reformatting it in the near future.

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